Hanoi, Oct 7 (TruthDive): Nguyen Thi Phuong (26) of Ben Tre Province seemed to age virtually overnight possibly due to an allergy caused by eating seafood or some medicines she was prescribed for it.

Medical experts in southern Vietnam offered to help a 26-year-old woman whose skin wrinkled making her look 70 years old, local media reported on Wednesday.

After suffering an allergic reaction in 2008 and taking a variety of medications prescribed for it, Phuong’s skin on her face, neck and hands rapidly wrinkled and became saggy, giving her the appearance of a 70-year-old granny.

It happened in 2008 when after eating seafood her face broke out in a rash and became itchy. she thinks she used to scratch her face even in sleep. her husband Nguyen Thanh Tuyen (34) got her some medicines but they did not work and he had to take her to a local doctor. Phuong was diagnosed with dermatitis and prescribed some pills. However, after taking them for a week, her face swelled up and hives appeared on her skin.

She stopped taking them after a week, and turned to some traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in town. she was given some medication that reduced the swelling, but also made her put on weight. However, the medication was expensive, costing VND30,000 (S$1.88) a day, and did not do much to improve her condition.

Three hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have offered Nguyen Thi Phuong consultations with experts after the Tuoi Tre newspaper published photographs of her Sunday. Mrs Phuong’s skin is wrinkled but she still has the hair and posture of a young woman, the newspaper said. her condition has baffled local doctors.

The young woman has mastocytosis, the head of dermatology at the Ho Chi Minh City University medical center said after checking her Tuesday. Mastocytosis is a disorder caused by the presence of too many mast cells which bring a number of symptoms like skin lesions, diarrhoea, abdominal discomforts and other infections.

Her saggy skin not withstanding, Phuong still has the voice and posture of a young woman and black hair. “It is not just my face that has become saggy but also my stomach,” Phuong says. “I have never given birth but the skin on my stomach looks like I have had two or three kids. Last September when I had a stomach ache and went to a doctor, he said I was caught with early aging syndrome.”